Ah, those lesbians. Always unstable and lascivious, usually murderous, they are just like sociopathic male stalkers, but with breasts. Thanks to Frederick D, today’s sponsor, we can wallow in their perverted behaviors and unnatural urges!

The “lesbians” in this manga remind me of a vividly remembered “lesbian” character from a Tom Clancy novel who comforted a married woman when her husband went missing, but it was all a ruse to get into her pants. Excuse, me, skirt. Because real women wear dresses, you know. Only lezbos wear pants.

And so it is here in Lady Snowblood, Volume 4, in which Syurayuki approaches the end of her lifelong vendetta. In order to fulfill her vengeance, Lady Snowblood must bear the seduction of the overweight, sweaty and altogether unappealing head nurse at a hospital for children and, later, she uncovers the deception of a cross-dressing blackmailing murderer.

The best part of all this is the lip-smacking. I know, as do you, that us lesbians walk around eyeballing every straight woman, barely containing our drool. (I can’t even type that without rolling my eyes.)

After getting past the evil lesbian bosses, and after receiving a healing spell from her surrogate father, Syurayuki faces her final confrontation, which ends in a very traditional turn for the ironic.

Lady Snowblood has both gained her revenge and her salvation, as the story comes to a beautiful, ambiguous, melancholy end.

However. Somewhere, a new lip-smacking, evil psycho lesbian boss is chortling like Ming the Merciless, as she picks up the thread of perversion and carries it into the future. (That’s not in the book, I just made it up. It just amuses me to imagine this alternate ending. )

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 5
Service – 5

Overall – 7

Frederick – email me and get your “Okazu hero” badge!

Stray Little Devil , Volume 4 continues the adventures of human girl Pam who was handwaved into a dimension occupied by devils and angels and forced to undergo trials and tribulations in order to be returned to the human world. In the meantime, power struggles both big and small fill the background of the angel and devil worlds, and Pam spreads her cheerful friendship across the befuddled characters who inhabit her new life.

Many adventures befall Pam as she rises to the challenge of becoming a full-fledged devil, many of which seem to require her ass being shoved in our face and or her clothes disappearing. Ah, MediaWorks, how much joy have you brought to the lives of lonely people…

The main attraction in this volume is Pam’s bonding with Lin-fa, the angel who looks exactly like her best friend forever back in the human world. The two make their way through a series of amusingly predictable scenes; Pam smiles gamely in order to cheer Lin-fa up and get her to work together and Lin-fa looks stricken a lot.

Today’s review is an exercise in the subjective nature of Yuri. I have been told by many people if only I would get to the fourth volume of Stray Little Devil I would see that it is undoubtedly Yuri. Well, I’ve gotten there, and I see what you’re all saying. But I still don’t agree.

That is to say – I am absolutely, perfectly aware that these two are being set up in a way that lends itself to being labeled Yuri by people who believe that girls have only one possible kind of friendship. Because I know that women have many more levels of friendship than just “sex-friend” and “not sex-friend,” I see this as a very intense friendship. Even if they should embrace, I will still continue to see it as an embrace between shinyuu, between close friends who find themselves with an incredibly strong bond.

So when Volume 5 comes and the inevitable climax of the plot arises, I am not likely to find their protestations of love and caring for one another to be anything more than protestations of love and caring between friends. I trust my gay-dar. I have never been wrong except for once (and I’m still convinced he was lying about his girlfriend.)

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 1 for me, 4 for those who wish to see it
Service – 4

Overall – 6

As a tale of predictable crises, with predictable outcomes, Stray Little Devil is predictably entertaining.

Since we’ve been discussing adult female protagonists, I though I would keep the trend going today and take a look at Lady Snowblood, Volume 2. First, let’s say grace and thank Kelly G for sponsoring today’s review – thanks Kelly!

You’ve seen Lady Snowblood, haven’t you? This classic Japanese film series follows the violent life of revenge by a woman named Snowblood, in retribution for all the evils that have befallen her and her family. Bwahahahah. It’s a great set of films that Tarantino ripped for his own film doujinshi, Kill Bill. (Lucy Liu has *nothing* on Kaji Meiko.)

The Lady Snowblood manga’s old, old school art and the period story instantly transports us to a Tezuka-style world, where revenge is the only option for those destroyed by greed, lust and pride.

Snowblood’s whole life has been a hunt for revenge and, as a result, she’s become very, very good at it. Like the Count of Monte Cristo she uses sex appeal, her honed fighting skills and her extremely sharp business acumen to do whatever it takes to ruin those people who ruin others.

In Volume 2, it takes Snowblood passing herself off as a Buddhist nun and seducing the daughter of a powerful businessman. Aya is dying from some wasting disease and the continued sexual activity dissipates what little life force she has left. She dies, but at least she dies happily. ^_^

There’s a grim kind of pleasure we get as we watch Snowblood take on the privileged and corrupt with her own brand of vigilante revenge. While she receives little satisfaction as her reward, we can wallow in her ability to lie, to cheat, to kill and ruin those whose reckless disregard for life and their fellow humans has led them to take everything they can get at the expense of everyone around them. Hmm…seems kind of timely doesn’t it? It would be kind of darkly amusing to create a Snowblood 2 set in the modern world of stock trading, wouldn’t it? ;-)

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 6
Service – 5

Overall – 7

Just another nod to Kelly – welcome to the ranks of Okazu heroes!